The British farthing (derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
, a fourth part) was a British coin worth a quarter of an
old penny
The British pre-decimal penny was a denomination of sterling coinage worth of one pound or of one shilling. Its symbol was ''d'', from the Roman denarius. It was a continuation of the earlier English penny, and in Scotland it had the same mo ...
( of a
pound sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...
). It ceased to be struck after 1956 and was demonetised from 1 January 1961.
The British farthing is a continuation of the
English farthing, struck by English monarchs prior to the
Act of Union 1707
The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...
which unified the crowns of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain. Only
pattern
A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...
farthings were struck under
Queen Anne as there was a glut of farthings from previous reigns. The coin was struck intermittently under
George I George I or 1 may refer to:
People
* Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631)
* George I of Constantinople (d. 686)
* George I of Antioch (d. 790)
* George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9)
* George I of Georgia (d. 1027)
* Yuri Dolgor ...
and
George II George II or 2 may refer to:
People
* George II of Antioch (seventh century AD)
* George II of Armenia (late ninth century)
* George II of Abkhazia (916–960)
* Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051)
* George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...
, but by the reign of
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, counterfeits were so prevalent the
Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins.
Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
ceased striking copper coinage after 1775. The next farthings were the first struck by steam power, in 1799 by
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton (; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engine ...
at his
Soho Mint
Soho Mint was created by Matthew Boulton in 1788 in his Soho Manufactory () in Handsworth, West Midlands, England. A mint was erected at the manufactory containing eight machines, to his own patent design, driven by steam engine, each capable of ...
under licence. Boulton coined more in 1806, and the Royal Mint resumed production in 1821. The farthing was struck fairly regularly under
George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
and
William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
. By then it carried a scaled-down version of the penny's design, and would continue to mirror the penny and
halfpenny until after 1936.
Farthings were struck in most years of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
's long reign. The coin continued to be issued in most years of the first half of the 20th century, and in 1937 it finally received its own reverse design, a
wren
Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...
. By the time the coin bore the portrait of
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
from 1953 to 1956, inflation had eroded its value. A fall in commercial demand also contributed to its demise.
Early issues (1714–1775)
![Anne Farthing 1714](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Anne_Farthing_1714.jpg)
The British farthing is a continuation of the farthing series begun in silver under the English king
Henry III in the 13th century.
It was first struck in copper in the early 17th century under
James I of England
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the Union of the Crowns, union of the Scottish and Eng ...
. The right to make the coin was granted by a lifetime royal patent, first to
Lord John Harington of Exton (minted briefly from 1613 to his death in 1614) and then later to
Ludovic Stewart, Duke of Lennox (minted from 1614 until his death in 1624).
Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
first appeared on the coin in 1672, under
Charles II.
Issuance of farthings had not been necessary during most of the reign of
Queen Anne (1701–1714) due to a surplus of English farthings, which continued in circulation. But beginning in 1713, there was a shortage of copper coin (the
halfpenny and farthing). The Royal Mint planned to issue farthings in 1714, but this was thwarted by the death of the Queen that year. The 1714 farthing, weighing 4.8–5.8 grams and of 21–22 millimetres diameter, is deemed a
pattern
A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...
. It contained about a farthing's worth of copper, as Sir
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
was Master of the Mint, and he believed coins should contain their value in metal. Some Anne farthings escaped into circulation, and there was a persistent and incorrect legend that they were of immensely high value. Britannia is said to bear the likeness of Queen Anne, and according to the numismatic writer Kerry Rodgers, "it was at this point that the blending of the female personification of Britain with the image of the reigning Queen takes firm hold." Newton had strong views about the quality of the coinage, and the Anne farthing displays advances, such as greater consistency in striking, over that of
William III.
The need for a copper coinage was no less after the accession of King
George I George I or 1 may refer to:
People
* Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631)
* George I of Constantinople (d. 686)
* George I of Antioch (d. 790)
* George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9)
* George I of Georgia (d. 1027)
* Yuri Dolgor ...
(1714–1727), but the Anne halfpennies and farthings (made with metal prepared at the Royal Mint) had failed tests for purity. It was not until 1717 that Newton tried to coin those two denominations again, this time from copper strip purchased from a contractor. The price of metal had risen, so the new farthings were lighter than the Anne coins, at 4.5–5.3 grams. The farthings struck in 1717 were smaller and thicker than the 1714 coins, with a diameter of 20–21 millimetres, and they are known as "dump" farthings. Farthings of 1719–1724 are slightly larger, at 22–23 millimetres, but are of the same weight. The coins were in high relief, and the Royal Mint had trouble transferring the design to the blanks, resulting in myriad flaws. The coin features the right-facing head of King George and the inscription
GEORGIVS REX on the obverse, and for the reverse a design identical to that of the Anne farthings: Britannia with the inscription
BRITANNIA and the date in the
exergue
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...
below. Farthings were for sale at the Mint's premises at the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
in packets of five and ten shillings; the Treasury refused to allocate funds for provincial distribution. The farthing's designs were by
John Croker, possibly assisted by Johann Rudolph Ochs Sr, and were struck in every year from 1717–1724. The Mint had contracted for strip for seven years; when the contract ended, the coinage stopped.
![Great Britain, 1754 - farthing, George II](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Great_Britain%2C_1754_-_farthing%2C_George_II.jpg)
George I died in 1727, the same year as Newton, and the king's son
King George II succeeded to the throne, reigning until 1760. Croker engraved the new king's head for the coinage; the Britannia design was not changed. Farthings with Croker's design for George's head were minted in 1730–1737 and 1739. A bust showing an older king by
John Sigismund Tanner
John Sigismund Tanner (1705 – 14 March 1775; ) was an engraver of the Kingdom of Great Britain, making dies for coins and medals.
Tanner, a native of Saxe-Coburg, worked mostly for the Royal Mint at the Tower of London and was its Chief Engrav ...
was used on the farthing in 1741, 1744, 1746, 1749, 1750, and 1754, though the 1754 coin was probably minted at least until 1763. All George II farthings weighed 4.5–5.3 grams and had a diameter of 22–23 millimetres. Both obverses showed left-facing heads of King George and the inscription
GEORGIVS II REX, and on the reverse, Britannia with the inscription
BRITANNIA and the date in the exergue. The farthing was made in relatively small number compared to the halfpenny (struck every year from 1730–1754); in no year were even half as many farthings coined, and in most years, far fewer.
The 1754 stoppage was due to a glut of coppers, and was done at the urgent request of merchants. Even then, a different problem—counterfeiting—had emerged. Lightweight counterfeit halfpennies and farthings (the penny was then made of silver) had been seen as early as 1725, and in the following decades, they became a flood. The laws at the time made counterfeiting copper coin merely a
misdemeanour
A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...
, punishable by a fine or a short term in gaol, while counterfeiting of gold and silver was dealt with severely. The counterfeits were especially prevalent in rural areas where regal issues, with no organised plan of distribution, were rarely seen. No farthings were coined after 1754, with the exception of 1754-dated later issues which may have been due to the Royal Mint using up stocks of copper. To make the counterfeiting uneconomical, in 1755 the Mint Board proposed reducing the value of the farthing to pence and the halfpenny to , but the Government refused.
The first halfpennies and farthings with the head of George II's grandson and successor,
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
(1760–1820), were issued in 1771, the year Parliament made it a felony to counterfeit copper coin. This had little effect; large quantities were melted down for lightweight imitations, though the farthing was less counterfeited than the halfpenny. This first series of George III farthings, struck in 1771 and 1773–1775, had a weight of 4.3–5.3 grams, with diameter 23–24 millimetres. The obverse, designed by
Richard Yeo
Richard Yeo (ca 1720–1779) was a British medalist and Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint, in which capacity he supplied patterns for the guinea and five guinea coins of George III. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy of Art, and appea ...
or
Thomas Pingo depicts a right-facing bust of the king, with the inscription
GEORGIVS III REX, while no significant change was made to the reverse. Despite the counterfeiting, the Mint ceased striking coppers in 1775 on the ground that there were sufficient legal farthings and halfpennies in commerce. The farthing would not be struck again by the Royal Mint until 1821.
Soho and renewed regal issues (1799–1837)
![GREAT BRITAIN, GEORGE III -FARTHING 1807 a - Flickr - woody1778a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/GREAT_BRITAIN%2C_GEORGE_III_-FARTHING_1807_a_-_Flickr_-_woody1778a.jpg)
From 1775, most copper coins in circulation were counterfeit. The private sector eventually reacted, filling the gap with
private tokens starting in 1787, and the Treasury awarded a contract to
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton (; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engine ...
to strike copper coins in 1797. At his
Soho Mint
Soho Mint was created by Matthew Boulton in 1788 in his Soho Manufactory () in Handsworth, West Midlands, England. A mint was erected at the manufactory containing eight machines, to his own patent design, driven by steam engine, each capable of ...
near Birmingham, Boulton produced the well-known Cartwheel pennies and twopences, so named for their appearance, the first official British coins struck by steam. The contract did not include producing farthings, though Boulton prepared several patterns. In 1799, Boulton was given a licence to produce halfpennies and farthings. In the meantime the price of copper had risen, and a more conventional coin was struck.
The 1799 farthing broke new ground in two areas: the reverse was inscribed , the first time the name of a denomination had ever appeared on an English or British coin, and it was also the first British coin to have the date on the same side as the monarch's head. The inscription on the obverse became , and the reverse depicts a redesigned left-facing seated Britannia holding a spray and spear, with the inscription . In 1806–1807 a further 22.5 tons (23 tonnes) of copper was struck into farthings by Boulton, but the price of copper had risen again and the weight was less than the 1799 issue. Farthings of the 1799 issue weigh , with a diameter , while the later Boulton issue weighs 4.7–4.8 grammes (0.17 oz) with a diameter . For the 1806–1807 issues, the denomination was removed from the coin, was abbreviated as , and the image of Britannia was slightly modified. Copper farthings and halfpennies from before 1797 were called in by proclamation dated 5 December 1817, and were redeemed by weight.
![Great Britain, 1831 - farthing, William IV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Great_Britain%2C_1831_-_farthing%2C_William_IV.jpg)
The currency was reformed in the 1810s with the
Great Recoinage of 1816
The Great Recoinage of 1816 was an attempt by the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to re-stabilise its currency, the pound sterling, after the economic difficulties brought by the French Revolutionary Wars and the N ...
. The production of copper coins did not resume until after George III's death in 1820 and the accession of
King George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
(1820–1830). Farthings were produced in 1821, Britannia maintaining her place on the reverse. These pieces were made current by a proclamation of 14 November of that year, that made them
legal tender
Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in pa ...
to sixpence. The original coinage portrait of the King, by
Benedetto Pistrucci, attracted strong royal dislike, but was used on the farthing in 1821 and in 1823–26. By then, Pistrucci had been barred from work on the coinage for refusing to copy the work of another artist.
William Wyon
William Wyon (Birmingham 1795 – 29 October 1851), was official chief engraver at the Royal Mint from 1828 until his death.
Biography
Wyon was born in Birmingham and, in 1809, was apprenticed to his father, Peter Wyon who was an engraver a ...
was given the task of engraving what became the more flattering "bare head" type of 1826. The issue of coppers in 1826 was because of the withdrawal of separate issues for Ireland; the Irish penny had been valued at of its British equivalent. The reverse was redesigned slightly, but remained more or less the same. The Pistrucci-designed farthings weighed , with a diameter of ; the later ones by Wyon (issued each year from 1826–1830) weighed with a diameter of 22 millimetres. Both Pistrucci's and Wyon's designs were produced in 1826. The Pistrucci obverse shows a left-facing bust of King George IV with the inscription
GEORGIUS IIII DEI GRATIA, while the reverse shows a right-facing helmeted Britannia seated to the left of the coin, holding a shield and trident, with the inscription and the date in the exergue under Britannia. The Wyon obverse shows a laureate bust of King George IV, facing left, with the inscription
GEORGIUS IV DEI GRATIA, while the reverse inscription is unchanged.
The death of King George in 1830 brought his brother,
King William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...
(1830–1837) to the throne. Wyon, by then Chief Engraver, left the reverse of the farthing unchanged, and for the obverse engraved a portrait of King William by Sir
Francis Chantrey
Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...
. The inscriptions were unchanged, except that (William IV) was substituted for on the obverse. The farthing was produced in 1831, and 1834–1837, the final issue being struck during the year of King William's death.
Victorian farthings
Farthings bearing the portrait of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
, by Wyon, were struck beginning in 1838; no change was made to the reverse other than substituting the abbreviation (Regina, or Queen) for (King), indicating there was now a reigning Queen. The farthing remained the same size it had been since 1826. From 1838, the farthing was struck every year of Victoria's long reign except 1870, 1871 and 1889 (the 1877 issue was only in
proof and may have been made at a later date). The same obverse dies were used for the copper farthing and the
sovereign
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'.
The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
and most likely were used for the gold coin first. This contributed to a high level of defects in the farthing series, but ensured that they were struck every year, as was the popular gold coin. In Victorian times, a farthing could buy three oysters, with bread and butter, from an oyster-seller walking the streets of London. The coin would be enough to purchase a sparrow at a market in
London's East End
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
.
In 1859, the Government decided the poor state of the copper coinage demanded its withdrawal. The farthing was in particular need of replenishment; an 1857 survey had found that farthings made up only about 3 percent of the copper coins in circulation, though about 20 percent of the coppers struck since 1821 had been farthings. Bronze was deemed a suitable replacement. Parliament passed legislation in 1860 that allowed the penny, halfpenny and farthing to be struck from an alloy of metals. Large quantity of bronze pennies, halfpennies and farthings were struck beginning in 1860 not only by the Royal Mint but by two Birmingham firms under contract. Although the weight of the penny was halved, the farthing was lightened by a bit less than that lest it be too small. The farthing was virtually identical to the penny and halfpenny but for minor details. The new bronze coinage went into circulation in December 1860; the old copper pieces were demonetised after 31 December 1869 in Britain (though the Mint would still accept them until 1873) and at the end of 1877 for the colonies.
![FARTHING 1885 Victoria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/FARTHING_1885_Victoria.jpg)
The new bronze farthings weighed 2.8–3.0 grams, were 20 millimetres in diameter, and were made of an alloy of 95% copper, 4% tin and 1% zinc. Disregarding minor changes in alloy, these would remain the farthing's specifications until abolition after 1956. They read on the reverse, with the date in the exergue beneath Britannia. The obverse features the "Bun head" or "Young head" of Victoria; both sides of the coin were designed by
Leonard Charles Wyon
Leonard Charles Wyon (23 November 1826 – 20 August 1891) was a British engraver of the Victorian era most notable for his work on the gold and silver coinage struck for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 and the bronze coinage of ...
, William's son. The inscription on the obverse was . An "H" mintmark underneath the date can be seen on some 1874–1876 and 1881–1882 farthings; they were struck at the
Heaton Mint
The Birmingham Mint was a coining mint and metal-working company based in Birmingham, England. Formerly the world's largest privately-owned mint, the company produced coins for many foreign nations including France, Italy, China, and much of the ...
in Birmingham. Although the Bun farthing series produced several
varieties
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
, they are not as extensive as for the penny and halfpenny. The farthing tended to have the lowest mintages of the three bronze coins, between 1 and 6 million being struck in most years in the late
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
; more halfpennies were struck than farthings, and mintages of the penny were regularly exceeding 10 million by the 1890s. Although fewer farthings were struck, a larger percentage has survived due to the sentimental attachment of the British people to the coin lowest in denomination.
In 1896, a new obverse was introduced to the bronze coinage showing Victoria as an elderly woman. The obverse was designed by
Thomas Brock
Sir Thomas Brock (1 March 184722 August 1922) was an English sculptor and medallist, notable for the creation of several large public sculptures and monuments in Britain and abroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
His mos ...
and engraved by
George William de Saulles
George William de Saulles (4 February 1862 – 21 July 1903) was a British medallist. He designed the obverse of coins of the United Kingdom and its colonies under Queen Victoria and King Edward VII.
Life
He was born on 4 February 1862 at Villa St ...
. The farthing continued to display it until the year of the Queen's death, 1901. De Saulles also revised the reverse; the most significant change was the deletion of the lighthouse and ship on either side of Britannia; they would never return to the farthing. The inscription on the Old Head farthing was . Beginning in 1897, farthings were issued artificially darkened; this was to avoid confusion of bright new farthings with the
half sovereign
The half sovereign is a British gold coin with a nominal value of half of one pound sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and ...
; the bronze farthing and the gold piece were the same size.
Twentieth century and abolition (1902–1956)
The farthing of King
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
(1901–1910), Victoria's son and successor, was struck in every year from 1902 to 1910; it was still artificially darkened. Mintages ranged from 2.6 million (1910) to 8.9 million (1908) at a time when the penny's mintage never dropped below 12 million and rose to 47 million in 1907. A total of £1,021,013 in pennies were struck bearing Edward's portrait, and £222,790 in halfpennies, but only £45,429 in farthings. But for the statement of the coin's value, the designs on the penny, halfpenny and farthing are effectively identical as De Saulles used a Janvier
reducing lathe
A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to c ...
to convert models to dies. The new obverse was his work, showing the king's right-facing bust, with the inscription
EDWARDVS VII DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP.
The farthings of Edward's son and successor, King
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
, resulted in a new left-facing portrait by Sir
Bertram Mackennal
Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal (12 June 186310 October 1931), usually known as Bertram Mackennal, was an Australian sculptor and medallist, most famous for designing the coinage and stamps bearing the likeness of George V. He signed his work "BM". ...
and the continuation of the Britannia design. Farthings bearing King George's portrait were produced every year of his reign but 1910. Other than substituting (George V) for , no change was made to the inscription. In 1917, the Mint ceased to darken farthings as the half sovereign was no longer being minted. In common with the penny and halfpenny, the King's head was made slightly smaller in 1926. The depiction of Britannia was also slightly adjusted in that year. A total of £5,710,748 in pennies, £1,039,704 in halfpennies and £222,643 in farthings were struck for the reign.
The
Edward VIII
Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...
farthing is a pattern which was awaiting royal approval at the time of the abdication in December 1936. There was a movement afoot for more modern coinage designs; the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...
had in 1927 adopted a series of coins depicting animals and some of the colonies had redesigned their coinages. King Edward was also interested in a move away from the heraldry that marked British coinage, showing foreign coins on his watch chain to the Deputy Master of the Mint,
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...
, and asking for more like those. King Edward eventually gave in on the question, fearing that such designs would be unacceptable to the British people, but non-heraldic themes for the halfpenny (a sailing ship) and farthing survived. The selected design for the farthing, a
wren
Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...
, placed the smallest British bird on the British coin smallest in value. In an attempt to break the deadlock between King Edward and the Mint, artist Wilson Parker had prepared a series of coinage designs based on what were loosely deemed royal animals: eagle, dove, stag, sturgeon, swan and wren, which though liked by the advisory committee (including a young
Kenneth Clark
Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television ...
) did not receive their endorsement due to the committee's preference for heraldry. Another reason for the change was that the Britannia design, reduced from a model, was difficult to appreciate given the coin's small size. The obverse was designed by
Humphrey Paget
Thomas Humphrey Paget OBE (13 August 1893 – 30 April 1974) was an English medal and coin designer and modeller.
Paget's designs are indicated by the initials 'HP'.
Paget was first approached by the Royal Mint in 1936 after the accession of ...
. King Edward got his way on one matter; his portrait faced left on the patterns, whereas by tradition a monarch faces in the opposite direction from the last reign, and George V had faced left. Edward insisted as he considered his left profile his better side. The only change to the inscription was the substitution of (Edward VIII) for .
![Farthing 1946 GeorgeVI Wren](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Farthing_1946_GeorgeVI_Wren.JPG)
The wren design was approved for the coinage of Edward's brother and successor, King
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...
(1936–1952); it stayed on the coin for its remaining twenty years. Paget redesigned his obverse to include the new king's left-facing bust, and the wording was adjusted to include . The coin was struck each year from 1937. In 1949, following the independence of India, was removed from the obverse. The accession of Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
in 1952 brought a new portrait to the farthing the following year, designed by
Mary Gillick
Mary Gaskell Gillick ( Tutin; 1881 – 27 January 1965) was a sculptor and medallist, best known for her effigy of Elizabeth II used on coinage in the United Kingdom and elsewhere from 1953 to 1970.
Personal life
Born Mary Gaskell Tutin in Not ...
. The obverse inscription was in 1953, and thereafter. This change was a recognition that some of the nations of the
British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
were republics.
In the years after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the farthing had seen more use, as the standard one-pound (454 g) bread loaf had its price set by government, and the price included an odd halfpenny; thus a cash transaction for the purchase of a half-pound loaf by itself required the use of a farthing, either with the payment or as change.
By the 1950s, due to inflation, the purchasing power of the farthing had dropped, as had commercial demand. Letters to ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' reflected this reality: one correspondent reported being refused when offering eight farthings to a bus conductor for a twopenny fare, and a vendor becoming abusive when offered six farthings for a newspaper. This occurred even though, as a later letter noted, the coin was still legal tender to a shilling. Demand continued to dwindle, and production of the farthing was discontinued after 1956. Eliminating the farthing from commerce also made way for a possible smaller penny and halfpenny that Royal Mint officials contemplated proposing. The farthing ceased to be legal tender after 31 December 1960.
Obverse designs
File:1719 George I farthing lighter.jpg, George I
File:GREAT BRITAIN, GEORGE II, 1746 -FARTHING b - Flickr - woody1778a.jpg, George II
File:William IV Farthing.jpg, William IV
File:Victoria farthing.jpg, Victoria (Bun)
File:Victorianewfarthingobv.jpg, Victoria (Old or Veiled)
File:EdwardvIIfarthingobv.jpg, Edward VII
File:1919farthingobv.jpg, George V
File:1944farthingobv.jpg, George VI
File:Britfarthing1954obv.jpg, Elizabeth II
See also
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Coins of the pound sterling
The standard circulating coinage of the United Kingdom, British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories is denominated in pennies and pounds sterling ( symbol "£", commercial GBP), and ranges in value from one penny sterling ...
*
Penny-farthing
The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds (owing to its travelling a large distance for every r ...
(bicycle)
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
Pictures and Descriptions of the Farthings of BritainSite containing pictures and descriptions of the farthings used in Britain from the time of Henry III to Elizabeth II including currency, patterns, size,etc.
British Coins– Free information about British coins. Includes an online forum.
Farthing website showing a variety from 1799 to 1956 in different grades and varietiesCoin Wiki– An encyclopaedia of British coins from 1816 to date and a provider of related information.
{{British coinage
1714 introductions
Coins of Great Britain
Coins of the United Kingdom
Pre-decimalisation coins of the United Kingdom
History of British coinage